


005 Blue

by Era_Penn



Series: 100 Faces of Tony Stark [5]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: But mostly fluff, Fluff, Gen, Peace, Peaceful, Vacation, With a side of angst, calm, mentions of Maria Stark
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-01-25
Updated: 2015-11-11
Packaged: 2018-01-10 01:09:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 865
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1152992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Era_Penn/pseuds/Era_Penn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony loves the Garden House, and he's got a few days of blue skies to enjoy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“Okay, team!” Tony said, clapping his hands together with glee. “Enough of this!”

They all looked up from where they were laying around in the living room playing video games and watching movies. “What, Stark? Sick of technology?” Clint teased.

“God, yes.” he replied, shocking them all. “Come on, there’s this great place, it’s a bit of a drive but what the hell, the Fantastic Four are in town and I’ve already told them we will be unreachable for the next day or two, as long as the perfect weather lasts.”

They looked hesitant for a moment, until Tony said, “Come _on_ Pepper gave the okay and I wanna get going.”

* * *

The four hour drive, the others seemed to decide, was worth it. Tony owned ten acres of land here, although one was covered by the small mansion he had built. There was a simple workshop in the basement, and Jarvis was wired in, but there were no televisions, only one phone that apparently only Pepper had the number to, and the rest of the nine acres was gorgeously gardened and planned out. 

It started with the drive. Bordered by trees, it eventually split into two different directions. One, Tony said, went down to a lake he didn’t own, but often visited, as he was on good terms with the neighbors. The other, which they followed, led up to the house, which was a pretty yellow shade trimmed in white, and large enough that they each had their own room and bathroom. The kitchen was shared, but large enough to accommodate, especially with the attached dining room that looked as though it had never been used.

“It hasn’t,” Tony replied when asked. “I never eat inside here, the weather is just too perfect.”

And it was. For two days the Avengers lounged around, having picnics and exploring the gardens.

There was a hedge maze and a flower garden, a small orchard, all of an enormous yard complete with tree-house where they could just sprawl on the lawn beneath the sun. Natasha found a gazebo she fell in love with, riding one of the horses out every day to spend all her time reading books and sipping at fruit juices. Steve located the artist’s shed, placed strategically where the breeze would blow through and cool the space heated by the sun on the glass (which, yeah, Tony might have planned ahead and had it built as soon as he realized the team might be joining him). Bruce wandered the gardens, and Clint commandeered the tree house, much to the dismay of the caretaker’s grandchildren (Alexander, Eleanor, Michael, and Bridgette), who were visiting for the summer. Until they realized that Clint was _awesome_ at hide-and-seek and flying kites. Thor spent most of his time sprawled out in the shade, sleeping, which Tony could totally get behind. Coulson spent a lot of time out riding, usually in the orchard.

But he had a little spot all his own here, at the Garden House. At the center of the maze, which due to certain mechanical designs was impossible to get to without knowing the trick (there was a door hidden in a hedge), lay his mother’s garden. The caretaker kept it up when he was away, but when he was there, Tony spent hours sinking his hands into the earth and stretching his toes in the dirt, clipping flowers to place in vases in his friend’s rooms and planting new seeds.

His mother would have approved; she thought flowers were one of the greatest gifts to give.

Tony would wander back to the house filthy and happy, soft in a way the others had never seen, more relaxed than ever. They tried to figure out where he went; the Caretaker simply said, “Maria’s plot,” and trailing Tony hadn’t worked, and eventually they just gave up, too relaxed here to worry.

Then the time came to leave, and they sadly beset Tony with puppy eyes, and he gave in, with a muttered, “We can come back, you know.”

* * *

Maria’s Plot wasn’t extravagant or perfect or even fanciful. It was full of varied flowers in all colors of the rainbow and all stages of blooming, contained a rope swing, a bench, and a couple meandering paths. It was small, at least compared to everything else, and contained only a few large plots of flowers. 

“This was my mother’s garden.” Tony said quietly, from where he stood at the center of the small space. “We used to come here every summer.”

“So why’d we come out, this year?” Clint asked. “What sparked the return?”

“Well, I do come here at least every other year still.” Tony shrugged. “And this time of year, the skies are eternally blue.”

“Let’s stay longer.” Natasha said, relaxed.

“The Four won’t be around any longer.” Coulson said.

“New York can take care of itself.” Clint said.

“It can’t, it really, really can’t.” Bruce groaned. “And you’ve jinxed it. Why do you always have to jinx it?”

“We’ll be back.” Tony said to the air before leading his team back out to the car.


	2. Chapter 2

Like this, but with a lot more trees and a pretty, pale yellow brick.


End file.
